Infra Red
by godivapearl
Summary: Project Novantis was a military training program run by the First Order, focused on training secret service special agents skilled in physical manipulation, and were tasked recovering information that had been stolen by the First Order's enemies. That was Agent AL1864 job to do. But what if something happen, she started to have feelings? Kylo Ren & Poe fans, this is your story.
1. Not the only lonely one

It wasn't the best place or best time to do that, but it never was. She preferred being around the others however, it reduced the risk of raising attention. The main hangar was quite perfect, always busy enough not to bother with a girl sitting on the floor against the wall, watching as other technicians prepared X- and A-wings for their next take offs, joking around while working. She often wondered if she could really just choose a position in the Resistance she definitely went with a pilot post, they always seemed so easy, no matter how stressful a situation was.  
Returning her gaze to the holopad in her lap, slightly leaning forward so her loosen hair fell before her face, she wrote another sentence then stopped again, hearing heavy footsteps approaching her. She didn't need to look up to know who it was. Well yes, usually everyone ignored her presence there, except one, just as she wanted it to be. As the boots finally came to her sight and the man stood just right before her, she finally raised her look up on him.  
„If you are planning to steal a ship, you could have just asked me." He joked, a wicked smile plastered on his face, softening his sharp, characteristic features.  
"Nah, not now." She shrugged with a playful smile, casually putting her holopad away. She could finish it later.  
"Then what are you up to?"  
„Waiting for someone to entertain me." And she was ready to give that opportunity to him, knowing that he would take it willingly.  
"Seems like I'm your man. How about a ride?" He raised an eyebrow, extending his arm toward her. She titled her head pretending as if she was hesitating, but one thing Riley Dawson would never miss out, was the chance to see planets and moons lightening the infinite darkness, decorating the galaxy like billion accessories. She was always up for an opportunity to admire it, and he exactly knew that. Finally, she nodded accepting his gesture, allowing him to help her standing up. As she got to her feet his intense gaze immediately captured hers, never letting her arm, holding her frame tightly to his, so close she could feel his heart beating in his chest. Only a moment passed like that before she moved, gently pulling her arm out from his grip.  
Not yet.  
"And where do you take me to? I have the feeling that the General wouldn't be happy about this trip."  
"Don't worry girl, we won't leave the system. And the General doesn't have to know." He winked at her then hopped into the pilot seat gesturing her to join him.  
"Poe Dameron, you'll never change." She chuckled before following him, climbing in to the copilot seat.  
"Never baby."

Riley Dawson was a member of the ship maintenance crew, specialized in X- and A-wing fighters, joining the Resistance after the First Order invaded her home planet Hosnian. She liked her, there were quite a few things they shared in common. The reason behind was simple: she needed to plan her identity for a longer period, and it was easier like that.  
One of these things were her passion for flying, and it was clear as the sky of Scarif, the man was hell of a good pilot, so she enjoyed their secret trips as much as Riley did.  
Soon enough she was familiar with every twists and turns in the Illeenium system, however sometimes Poe just joined the orbit of D'Qar so they could enjoy the view. It was uncomfortable, X fighters were so small in the inside, barely providing place for two, but none of them cared.

"If you could pick one, which one would you choose?" Poe asked, motioning to the stars around them. First she hummed in reply, thinking. "Well, my mother used to tell me a tale about a comet, who lost his shine, so he wandered all around the galaxy looking for it. Probably that one."  
She didn't have a mother, or father, she didn't have family at all, but most people had, so Riley should have one too. Figuring out such small details like that, short anecdotes from a past that never existed was always easy for her.  
Too easy.  
"Why?" He asked, his brows knotted together curiously.  
"So I can help him." She replied. He nodded, his features melted into a warm smile.  
"How about you?"  
"A one with peace. No violence, no pain, no lies." His reply was quick, no hesitation as if he had that idea in his mind ready a long ago.  
She genuinely smiled at his response, he was too sweet for that Galaxy. Allowing herself an honest reaction, she crawled forward and leaned her head on his shoulder. He instantly accepted her gesture wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her into his lap so she could rest her head on his chest. She closed her eyes listening to his steady heartbeats, asking like almost a whisper. "Will you promise me something?"  
"Anything." He murmured into her hair, his fingers playing with her soft locks.  
"If you find it, you bring me with you."  
"I promise." He chuckled, kissing her forehead then watching the small girl in his arms, she seemed so fragile in that moment. He gave it up a long ago to figure out when she was willing to let him close, but from time to time it seemed like that day would come.

There were many rules of being a spy of the First Order: Never raise attention, assimilate perfectly, report regularly, and last but not least: don't get too close. All of them were clear and obvious, the hard part was creating the balance between them, but as Agent AL1864, that was her job to do. That should have had her job to do. It wasn't a coincidence that the Order sent her to that mission, they needed the best and she was one of them: quick and effective, never failed a task.  
Failing was never an option, and she knew that she would do whatever it took to avoid it, no matter how painful it would be.  
Usually she didn't have the luxury to choose her targets, but in that case she could have chosen anyone. Easier ones from a lot of perspectives than him, more open or easier to influence, she did her job with him for sure, but she didn't mind, because first time in her whole career she had to spend time with someone who was actually interesting.  
Poe Dameron was complex. He seemed to be open with everyone, was charming and extremely friendly, but he held an invisible wall before him, which was really hard to get through. A wall probably most people didn't even realize, but she did, and had decided to get behind. The one thing she wasn't prepared for what she would find there: someone she liked.  
She had spent more than two weeks only to observe him before even trying to raise his attention, and she would never forget the scene, when she finally did.

She found him standing in front of his ship, the famous Black one, running his hand over his jaw then exhaling through his teeth, looking obviously troubled. Like she didn't realize his worried expression she stood next to him, enthusiastically motioning to the ship in front of them.  
"Four laser canons huh? She's a beast."  
Not entirely looking at her he nodded, a hint of proudness in his voice. "Yeah she is." He replied, allowing a half-smile in the corner of his lips, but his look still heavy from concern.  
"Need a hand?" She offered, hundred percent sure in the refusal.  
The pilot directed his look to her, shaking his head slightly. "Thank you, but currently I am not even sure what to do with mine."  
"What's the matter?"  
He hesitated for a second before answering, probably not counting on an actually competent advice from her. "A noise coming from the engine unit, couldn't figure out why yet."  
"Have you checked the power plants? Those Novaldex cells are really fussy, former ones were better if you asked me, than these O4-Z cryogenics." She popped up the question like it just came to her mind. She could see his surprise by her clearly practiced comment but he managed to hide it quite well, most people probably wouldn't notice it. "I checked already." Was all he said.  
"The sensors then? Could be the transceiver, especially if it's ANs-5d type."  
That time he had more trouble to mask his shock, he needed a moment to find his voice and manage to reply again. "I-, I checked that too."  
"Well… then there's probably something in the ionization reactor." She stated with the most innocent smile she could pull up, then friendly waved him off, leaving him there. She didn't even reach the entrance of the hangar when heard his voice calling after her. She turned around, curiously eyeing him approaching. "You were right, there was something stuck in the reactor shield."  
Of course it was, she was the one who put it there earlier. She managed to hide her satisfied smirk, offering him a friendly smile instead. "I'm glad that it's solved then."  
"Yeah, thank you." He added but she didn't give him chance to continue, she turned on her heels heading to the door again.  
"I'm Poe by the way." He shouted after her, she didn't stop but yelled back. "Riley."

Arriving back for their secret trip, she needed a hot shower to pull herself back to reality, but an annoying beep from her room helped her in that also. Quickly drying off of herself and grabbing something to wear she answered the call. Direct contact was unusual, she could count it on one hand how many times it happened since she had been there. But there it was, the General's blue holograph standing in the middle of her room. She made sure her room was locked, then sat across the projection, folding her arms in her lap. As she settled in facing him, he didn't hesitate to start right in the middle, the man clearly didn't like to waste any time.  
"I am lack of your recent update Agent."  
That surely wasn't the reason why he called her, yet she nodded. "I do apologize sir, it's almost finished but I got distracted."  
"Send me when you finished it then." He slightly waved with his gloved hand indicating that it could wait until, then continued. "I am contacting you because we received a hint and we need you to give us more information about it as soon as possible."  
She nodded in confirmation. "Yes sir. What would that be?"  
"How come she has no idea? Isn't that why she is there?" A voice interrupted and she didn't need to see to recognize who it was, but the holopicture widened so she could see then the whole High Command sitting in front of her.  
Great.  
"Or we send there to fuck around the whole Resistance for no reason?" Peavey added.  
"I can assure you Captain I haven't fucked around since it is not why I am here." She sneered, her voice sharp, she didn't even try to hide her feelings.  
Hux let her and she knew he would. They knew each other from many years, he gave some lessons at the Academy for the Novantis attendants personally. Even from them he favored her, so he always gave her chance to stood up and tell her opinion.  
"Maybe you should." Peavey snapped at her, but before she would have the chance to retort someone else intervened. Someone she would never expected to do so.  
"Captain." The deep growl instantly made the man wince, but he did his best to hide it. "That is enough." Everyone turned as one following the mechanical voice, coming from the other side of the table.  
"Commander." She greeted him, facing his mask for the first time in her life. She knew him, of course she did, but never had any interaction with him since, and technically defending her against Peavey wouldn't had been her first guess for that.

There it was, the girl he had heard so much about, Hux's favorite. He could see now why. She wasn't only professional, but she had her own opinion and she wasn't afraid to speak up, something which was unusually rare within the Order, everyone told what others wanted to hear.  
So much bullshit.  
But not her, she raised her head high, retorting to a higher officer without a second thought, yet without any disrespect.  
"Agent, we need you to gain information about a new project, expectedly treated highly confidential. The Resistance tried to invade the server of the Archive. They are looking for something and we want to know what, find it out."  
"Yes sir."  
"How much time does it require?"  
"Two days."  
"You have it. Report me directly."


	2. The way

A few minutes had been passed before the door opened following her previous knocking. Poe's sleepy expression quickly changed to a worried frown as he saw her standing in front of his room in the middle of the night. She had never did anything similar before.

"Riley, are you all right?" his raspy voice also implicated that he was probably already sleeping. She knew exactly it was late, she spent her evening sitting in the middle of her room, reading random articles trying to entertain herself enough not to fall asleep. She had only two days so she needed to make her next moves quickly, and if Poe didn't know about the whole thing she needed to know as soon as possible, otherwise she was screwed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you up, I just…" she started but he instantly cut her off.

"Hey, it's okay, just tell me what's wrong, all right?"

She nodded in reply and let herself guided by him, pulling her next to him sitting at the edge of his bed. She didn't reply right away, looking around in the semi dark room, only a small lamp giving any light, but enough to reveal the mess around them, his dirty clothes laying in a pile at the corner, next to a couple of greasy X wing parts. Compare to how amazingly precise he was during flying, the chaos in his room could have seemed strange, but actually it just made his personality much clearer for her. He was one of the most significant person in the Resistance, an excellent pilot and a great leader, and it put a lot of pressure on him, a weight that he needed to carry when he was outside of room, but not there.

Following her look wandering around his room Poe let out a small chuckle. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting a guest."

"If someone needs to apologize here it's definitely not you Poe."

"Okay well, let's agree then no one should apologize, are we good like that?"

"We are."

His features turned serious again, intently examining her face. "Now will you tell me, what's the matter?"

She nervously bit her lower lip, taking a deep sigh. "I just didn't want to be alone." She breathed out finally.

His expression softened, a few wrinkles playing around his eyes as his warm smile spread across his face. "Then you did the best to come here."

She smiled back at him. "I know."

Poe looked at her for a long second, titling his head to the side like he wasn't sure what to do with her now. "You look tired." He objected then as if informing her. She muffled a displeased laugh. "That means I look horrible?"

He shook his head with a light smile. "No. That means you need to sleep."

"Yeah, I was trying." She shrugged.

"And you thought if you didn't succeed, why let me do that huh?" He asked with a playful tone. No wonder everyone liked his attitude, his constant attempts to cheer everyone else around him up, was really unique. He was so sensitive about other's feelings, and it was so strange for her to see how deep they payed attention, they actually cared about each other.

She smiled at him confirming her appreciation about the effort. "To tell the truth I'm not really good at sleeping."

"That sounds like it's also not the first time you'd need company. You should have come before." He said, his warm gaze never leaving hers. "Besides I'm also a pretty awful sleeper. Perhaps we are better in it together. Here's the deal, you stay here and try to have some rest, okay?" Probably because of her lack of instant answer, he quickly added. "I will use the couch."

"No." She answered and he opened his mouth to reply and tell her about his innocent intentions but she didn't let him, continuing.

"Stay here, with me."

Shutting his mouth back and didn't saying a word he waited a few moments as if he was expecting her to change her mind, then he moved, climbing under the sheets, his back leaning against the wall, his hand stretched out, palms up, reaching for her. "Come here then."

She slid her fingers into his, lacing them together, he bent his elbow to pull her closer with the movement. As she almost reached his side she released his hand to support her balance on the mat, then scooped next to him, his arm wrapped around her waist immediately pulling her even closer to him, then started to play with her locks with his spare hand. "Close your eyes." He instructed. She did as she was telling to, listening to his steady heartbeats and feeling as his fingers gently stroking her hair.

"See? It is not that difficult." His voice was low like a deep lullaby.

She waited for him to fall sound asleep, then she left his side sneaking out from the bed, trying to shift her weight with the less movement as she could manage not to wake him up. Living quarters were quite small so she barely had space to separate herself from him, she needed to be very quiet. Trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness she waited another few moments, looking around in the messy room meanwhile. As the smaller details started to clear up she moved forward, first to the pile of clothes, checking every pocket she found. From movement to movement she stopped and waited a moment to make sure his breath was still nice and steady. She didn't found anything so moved to his small desk, carefully examining everything on the top of its surface. She found his commlink and his jacket lazily thrown atop of it, she tapped on every inch of the material finally founding what she was looking for, his datapad in the inside of it. Cautiously she raised it up to have access to the inner pocket when she noticed a handful of screws under it, but she didn't have to time to prevent what was coming, the screws rolled away, a few of them hitting the floor with a loud thud as the metal met with the shiny surface in front of her feet. There was no chance he would sleep through it, his previous words rang in her mind. "I'm also a pretty awful sleeper." The only reaction she could do was to drop the jacket back to the table before her eyes met with Poe's look on her.

She had two choice, one if she didn't say a word letting him make the first step so she could figure out what he was thinking of, or taking out the lead not leaving room for his possible thoughts. She decided to mix the both.

"Still couldn't sleep." He said, more like a statement than a question. She shook her head slightly then laced her arms around herself as if she wanted to protect herself from what reaction would follow her words. "I lied to you." She whispered. Poe's deep eyes laid on her, carefully examining her face but not saying anything allowing her to continue.

"I did come to you because…" She took a deep breath. "Because I've heard that you will go for a new mission." She stopped, waiting. She hadn't heard anything but as he frequently went for missions, there was a quite high chance for success. He didn't protest so she dared to risk to continue. "I have heard it will be very dangerous and-" Poe blinked, apparently completely confused by her words, sitting up, his bare feet touching the ground, now completely facing her. She bit her lower lip, directing her look to the floor, moving nervously from one leg to the other. She barely had idea what he was thinking about, he didn't have any reason to think she was spying on him but he was careful enough and she needed to make him completely trust her. "And I didn't want you to go." Her voice merely a whisper. Poe opened his mouth to say something, but before he could find his voice, she moved closer, finishing the gap between them, her legs meeting with his knees as she did. His look instantly shifted there, realizing her closeness, the fact that she just destroyed the wall she had been building between them so far.

Yes, she had been building it only to find the perfect opportunity to ruin it. The perfect way to make his trust unquestionable.

Reaching out she gingerly touched his face, gently directing his look back at her, then pointed her finger to his lips.

"You don't have to say anything."

His eyes followed her movement as her arm dropped back to her side, then as if he just realized what was happening he reached out, his hands finding her hips, instantly pulling her closer. For his biggest surprise, she let him, her hands placed on his chest, their lips inches from each other, the sensation of her hot breath sent goosebumps all around his skin, and he couldn't help but pull her even closer until they met in a kiss.

Soft.

That was the first thought coming to her mind, no one kissed her so tender before. It was like a request, like he was asking for permission. For the briefest moment she let herself experience the moment, then tightened her grip around the fabric of his shirt, holding onto it to support herself while letting him pull herself in to his lap, her legs wrapping around his waist. As her weight shifted to his lap he gasped in her mouth, his hands running up on her back. Not even bothering with catching for breath, their lips never leaving the others, her hands found their ways under his shirt, making contact with the bare skin of his back. She could feel the warmth radiating from every inch of him as her fingers rambled all around him, while his hot, wet mouth left her lips following a path from her neck to her shoulders, gently sucking on her soft skin. Usually she felt completely nothing but she had to admit, it almost felt nice, if she didn't need to concentrate on her moves, planning the next ones constantly, she could probably enjoy it, but it was only a part of her job, a tool she used and she had learnt how to use it. The voice of her instructor rang in her mind, always reminding her how she supposed to continue the task.

"Graze of the fingers of the thigh brings blood to the groin"

She pulled her hand forward from his back to his stomach, then slowly shifted her fingers down, instantly winning a soft moan escaping from his throat. Responding her movements she could feel his fingers discovering her under her shirt, so she started to peel of the layers from both of them.

"Initiate the next moves create the illusion of vulnerability."

That was what she needed, making him believe that her need was real, after refusing him so many times, pretending she wasn't interested then finally admit it wasn't real, she knew that he would give her everything then, his trust would be unquestionable.

He leaned forward, supporting her balance with his hands, his lips leaving her neck finding their ways downwards until meeting with her breasts. She automatically hissed and squeezed her thighs tighter around his waist, and her hands found his buckle managing to unfasten it with a few movement. He helped her removing every unnecessary piece between them, then in the next moment there she was, completely his, holding onto his neck, panting in his ears.

She didn't need to feel anything to know how she was supposed to act, she just needed to mirror the other party's reaction, and after a point usually they lost in their pleasure so deep, it didn't seem to matter. But not with Poe Dameron.

He actually payed attention to her, his deep brown eyes intently holding her gaze, she felt as if he could just see through her right in that moment and it scared her. Leaning forward she closed the gap between their lips, forcing him to kiss her with every movement, and he did, releasing his low groans in her mouth until he collapsed on her shoulders, inhaling sharply, exhausted, but never releasing her. They remained like that for a few minutes only listening to their breathing became steady again, then she moved trying to get on her feet. He supported her holding her by her waist, watching her almost warily as if he was worried that she suddenly realize what she did and ran away. But that wasn't her intention at all, instead she climbed next to him again, pulling the sheets around her waist. His look followed her movements then he laid next to her pulling her onto his chest again, kissing on her forehead. "I would do whatever it takes to come back to you."

She barely slept but didn't want to risk waking him up again, so she was listening to Poe's calm breathing and watching as the dark ceiling lightened from minutes to minutes as the early rays painted it, slowly turning it to a golden shade.

"At the end of this training you all will be weapons, the sharpest weapons in the hands of the First Order. Not simple agents, not simple soldiers but the perfect combination of both. You'll be trained in spying, hand to hand combat and psychological manipulation.

16 months, 2 weeks and 3 days.

The exact amount of time required to complete the training of Project Novantis and no day had been spent when she wasn't think about it. It was part of her as much as she was part of it. The words of her instructor on the first day often repeated in her mind, as if she had listened to it at least a hundred times, not once. Yet she remembered every sentence, every word, like a prayer.

Every human being is a puzzle of need. You must become the missing piece and they will tell you anything. To do so, you must learn to push yourself beyond all limitation. Limitations your mind, limitations of your body. You will learn to use it as a weapon, the biggest influential potential.

She couldn't tell how long she laid there like that, doing nothing but blinking until she felt him stirring next to her and a warm hand found her waist.

"Good Morning beautiful."

She smiled and opened her eyes with a playful frown, pretending like she was also just waking up. "Hey." She replied scouting a bit closer, her nose touching the edge of his jaw, her breath warming the skin of his neck.

"I really hate to say that, but we should get up." Poe said against the skin of her head, gaining an indignant hum in reply.

"I know, I know." He murmured kissing her forehead then she felt him stir and climbing out from the bed. She watched his way out to the refresher, her eyes following his muscular frame disappearing behind the door, then she quickly got to her feet moving to his jacket dropped to the table. Her fingers brushed through the rough fabric of the leather, finding their ways in his inner pocket and pulling out his holopad. It was secured by his fingerprint, so she turned around quickly looking for her own clothes and pulling out her own holopad, connecting them together with a few settings. She could crack easily the system to get in, but she needed more time to hide her intervention and even more to download its drive to her own. She could hear the water from the shower so she had a few more minutes for sure but she wasn't sure how long Poe usually enjoyed the morning session. She effortlessly penetrated the system, she knew it inside and out so far but the device was damn slow.

Her heart almost skipped a beat as the swashing stopped, then the quick silence broken by Poe's voice. She didn't understand what he was saying inside so she hurriedly covered the devices with his jacket. The mirroring almost reached the 60% so she decided it wasn't an option to break it, so she risked, moving to the way of the bath.

"Do you need something?" She asked knocking on the metal door.

"I left out the towel." He replied with a small chuckle.

"Just a second, I give it to you." She shouted back, while glancing around, nearly immediately saw the towel hanging from the edge of the wardrobe's door. She pulled it down, throwing the fabric at her shoulder while moved back to the table, checking on the status of the downloading.

78%

She bit her lip.

82%

"It's so messy around Dameron, it's a miracle you didn't lost yourself here." She let out a small laugh, while internally cursed herself not noticing that damn towel hanging there.

"If you can't manage it baby, I can't choose but coming out like this."

91%

"You're not so lucky" She quickly replied on an amused tone while she tried to manage to erase the memory of her modifications in his device, then tore out the plug and shoved her holopad back in her stuff, shouting in. "I found it!"

"Don't worry I didn't freeze to death or something."

"Such a relief." She giggled as he pulled her forward, her body meeting with his damp skin. "I couldn't take the blame to kill the best pilot in the Resistance."


End file.
